The Story
This Green Heron (Butorides virescens) perched among mangrove roots near Capurganá, in Chocó, Colombia, scanning the water below. It was long considered the same species as the Striated Heron. It is one of the few birds known to use tools: it sometimes drops insects, feathers or bread onto the water as bait to lure fish. It feeds in wetlands, along rivers, ponds and lakes and even in ditches, and it usually nests on a platform of sticks in a shrub or tree, over or near water. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
I used a Canon R5 with the RF 800mm f/11 plus the RF 1.4x extender for this one, at 1/500 sec, f/16, ISO 800, −1.5 EV. Capurganá can be reached only by boat or small plane, and it has no cars, which keeps the village and its forest edges quiet for birds like this one.
©2025 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Green Heron (Butorides virescens) belongs to the family Ardeidae (Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2022), with the population trend listed as stable. Source: IUCN Red List